Deinomenid Posted February 21 · Supporter Share Posted February 21 As we still don't have a fakes section, I thought it would be helpful to post this here. I recently posted an admittedly risky coin on this thread - https://www.numisforums.com/topic/5996-coinweek-article-not-just-a-pretty-face-10-beautiful-women-on-ancient-coins This type is very well-known for fakes yet I fell for it. As these coins come up for sale very often (and are sometimes extremely attractive) I thought I should highlight the error. There is an excellent discussion of the coins here - https://www.numismatikforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=53721&start=1185 by an expert (Amentia) whose experience is beyond reproach. After @Nemo suggested I was mistaken in thinking my coin somehow alright, despite these MANY examples, I spoke with Amentia who provided more than enough examples of my error. In short, it really looks like you cannot beat the system here, and to be exceptionally wary of the type, which are hand cut Bulgarian dies with a number of small variations. I now have a very long list now of WHY these are bad, but they include 1) A strange ratio of obverse to reverse dies, inconsistent with minting at the time, ie reverse v obv survival rates. 2) There are no proven genuine pieces of these and no connections to genuine pieces. 3) Related, the forgeries are always connected to each. 4) Centering and preservation, this may or may not be normal depending on the series (which is putting it kindly!) and in real Neapolis hemidrachms there is often crystallized silver. 5) Apparently a lot of these Neapolis counterfeits were sold by counterfeit sellers who only had counterfeits on offer! Since these are not casts or transfer stamp forgeries, the only thing left is forgeries of modern hand-cut stamps. Back to Magna Graecia I go, tail between my legs. This is my (quite lovely) fake - 7 2 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted February 21 · Supporter Share Posted February 21 Shame, a beautiful "coin". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Anthos Posted February 21 · Member Share Posted February 21 Yes a shame, but quite scarey too! I've stayed away from these and Apollonia Pontica for exactly this reason but I certainly would've been taken in by this one. ~ Peter 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambr0zie Posted February 21 · Member Share Posted February 21 (edited) My modest example, posted on the original thread, looks a little too close for my tastes like obverse 1 from Amentia's analysis However, I am optimistic as it doesn;t look like a die match and my coin is crystalized and smoothed. Of course, this is not a positive proof as I know the "sister coins" from Apollonia Pontika received aggressive treatments. This is the part that scares me the most in ancient coins collecting - this kind of forgeries and the money we spend in vain on objects that are proven to be worthless pieces of metal. Edited February 21 by ambr0zie 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted February 21 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted February 21 Very interesting, and sad if every hemidrachm from Neapolis turns out fake. Here's mine. I didn't see a die match with any of the posted coins. Any opinions on whether this one is real/fake? Macedon, Neapolis Circa 375-350 BCE AR Hemidrachm 1.75g, 13mm, 10h Facing gorgoneion, with tongue protruding Head of nymph to right; [N]-E-O-[Π] around; all within incuse. SNG Copenhagen 227-8; SNG ANS 453; HGC 3.1, 588. Ex J. Greiff Collection 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deinomenid Posted February 21 · Supporter Author Share Posted February 21 19 minutes ago, kirispupis said: Any opinions on whether this one is real/fake? Well I'm the least qualified to opine but from the list I was given, if it doesn't match any of those images (there's more than 1 page of them, not just the one on the link) and is off-centre and crystallised you have a better chance! 23 minutes ago, kirispupis said: sad if every hemidrachm from Neapolis turns out fake It's absolutely not every coin, apologies if I gave that impression. Here are a number at the British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/search?keyword=coin&keyword=neapolis&image=true&view=grid&sort=object_name__asc&page=1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rand Posted February 21 · Supporter Share Posted February 21 It is good to have those old, reliable museum reference examples. There are a few fakes in major collections from more recent acquisitions. Fakes have even been reported to the UK Portable Antiquities Scheme to legalise them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryro Posted February 21 · Supporter Share Posted February 21 (edited) What a bummer. Sorry to read. Thanks so much for sharing the resources. I'm trying to see if mine is on there now. Here's mine, picked up from Savoca a bit ago that I believe to be crystallized (hopefully this means it's legit): Macedonia, Neapolis, Hemidrachm, 424-350 BC (14 mm, 1,80 gr) Obverse: facing gorgoneion with protruding tongue Reverse: head of the nymph of Neapolis to right, her hair coiled around her head and with a bun at the back, around Ν-Ε / Ο-Π. Purchased from Savoca June 2021 Edited February 21 by Ryro 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Snible Posted February 22 · Member Share Posted February 22 I have checked my photo file of Neapolis hemidrachms. I cannot find earlier examples from these dies than the examples reported by Amentia I have never seen coins from these dies in less than high grade. Congrats to Amentia. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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